2026, animals, home, Nature, Uncategorized

Hummers

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In North Dakota we would see the occasional hummingbird in the fall as they migrated west to their winter quarters. They loved the flowers in our garden, especially the monarda and cone flowers. I was glad they could get some sustenance in our yard before they headed over the Rockies.

I never saw many hummingbirds in Luverne when I was growing up. I was fooled many times by hummingbird moths.

Since moving back we have seen several hummingbirds in our yard, small, emerald green ones. Yesterday Boommate concocted a clear, bird friendly hummingbird solution to put in the feeder outside her window. She plans to lure them with a basket of flowers on a plant hanger. I am excited to have this. The birds are so magical. I am sure her cats will be fascinated as they peer out the window at the birds.

Boommate tells us there used to be, or perhaps still is, a couple in the Cities who had several dozen hummingbird feeders in their yard who would cook up gallons of liquid for the feeders every day. They apparently had hundreds of hummingbirds in their yard. I don’t think we are up to something of that magnitude, but what a sight!

Got Hummers? Been fooled by the moths? Opinions about bird feeding?

25 thoughts on “Hummers”

  1. Someone gave us a bird feeder years ago, but our house sits up 4 feet on its foundation, and the windowsills are another 2 to 3 feet above THAT. Feeding birds had no visual delight, nor did it have the reminder that “the feeder’s empty”. Then, we got cats.
    I began creating things that hung off the side of the house, off of which the feeders (eventually there were more) would, themselves, hang. The cats were amused for a while, then WE became amused (the cats got over it).
    For a while, I attempted to keep the squirrels at bay. Now I am resigned to the idea that I’m feeding animals out there.
    I’m hoping to attract a neighborhood coyote or 2.

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    1. Like you, David, I eventually succumbed to the realization that if I were going to be feeding the birds, I would also be feeding the squirrels. In fact these days I have four feeders one of which I refer to as the squirrel feeder and it has peanuts and big pieces of corn and critter food. Two of the feeders are supposedly squirrel proof, but that’s just laughable.Of course the squirrels have figured out how to empty those feeders as well, but much more slowly. And then I have one feeder on which I keep a cylinder of hot birdseed and mealworms. The squirrels don’t like this, but the birds don’t mind the hot at all.

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  2. hummingbird nectar is simple syrup i learned. the stores put red stuff in it to make you think its something soecial. heat up one part water add one part sugar. there you have it hummingbird nectar. you need to change it out when the ants and honey bees start clogging up the feeder holes . the hummingbirds dont like to share

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    1. I use one part sugar, three parts water which I’ve seen online. I also have ant moats on all three of my feeders so that when the ants try to come down onto the feeder, they can’t get past the water.

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  3. I had lots of hummers at my old place. I think it’s possible that adult individuals return to where they were hatched. At least they seemed to remember which tiny branch of the Japanese tree lilac to sit on. From there they could observe the feeder and aggressively dive bomb other hummers. They were very reliable, and I loved seeing them and hearing their little screeches and squeaks as they did battle with each other over the feeder. They’re feisty little buggers.

    I put up hummer feeders at my new place this spring and the hummers just started showing up. It took a bit more patience as they haven’t seen feeders at my new place before. Once they get onto it, there will be more. Then I can watch their feeder battles and listen to their squeaks again.

    I put bird feeders out last fall, but my neighbor told me she had mice and hinted that it was because of my bird feeders. Well, I don’t want mice either, so I took the feeders down. A pair of house finches have stuck around though, expecting me to put them back up. Another neighbor is feeding birds without attracting mice, but I’m not going to risk friction with my next door neighbor, and I won’t put them back up.

    I’m particular about the cleanliness of the bird feeders. I wash bird feeders frequently with a light bleach solution. I run hummer feeders through the dishwasher, although it wears out the plastic parts. I boil the 4 parts water and 1 part sugar recipe for 5 minutes to kill bacteria and store it in mason jars that have been washed in the dishwasher. I’d hate myself if a songbird got bird flu or a hummer got a fungal infection in its throat because I didn’t clean my feeders.

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  4. I no longer have bird feeders because there is no safe place in my yard – but I see an occasional hummingbird at my neighbor’s feeders.

    Just found an interesting hummingbird article, with great photos: https://www.birdsandblooms.com/birding/attracting-hummingbirds/hummingbird-myths/

    A quote about their feet: “Just because you don’t often see them doesn’t mean they’re not there! Yes, hummingbirds do have feet. However, their feet work different from many other birds’. Hummingbirds can’t walk — although they can shuffle! — and their feet are mostly used for perching and grasping. It’s thought that their small feet evolved this way to help them weigh less, which makes for more efficient, faster flight.”

    Who knew?

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  5. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    We have both the hummingbirds and the moths here. The birds love petunias and other flowers with conical flowers. I do not feed the syrup although I have in the past. To be effective the feeders, both hummingbird and other, require a lot of tending. I have too much stuff to tend right now anyway. Husband has always taken care of the bird seed feeders, but as his disease progresses, that is fading away.

    The problem with seed feeders is rodents. I insisted if husband wanted those, they had to be away from the house to fend off the mice, and so I can get a clear image of the squirrels feeding from them. Those squirrels are a menace. (Sunday morning they got into my cold frame and ripped it all up. GRRRR).

    Longfellow Gardens in Minnehaha Park has polliinator plants that the hummingbirds. I think Bill mentioned it here last year. I visited it last fall. The place hums with hummingbirds and Monarch butterflies.

    https://www.minneapolis.org/things-to-do/nature-outdoors/public-gardens/

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  6. We get a few in our yard every year for the past . . . many? 10-15 at least. Used to put sugar water in a red feeder, but it broke or something, so the hummers feed on our red and purple flowers in the garden.

    I’m a middling bird feeder. I put out seed in one feeder, have two suet cages. It seems the number of visiting birds is down significantly in the past few years. It worries me a little when I hear about pesticides and insecticides harming the bird population, but I don’t know if my situation directly relates to that. It may be that the local birds found much better/more food in someone else’s yard.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  7. I’ve never made the nectar, but do have some straggling “hummisuckle” vine along the fence that is starting to bloom, so we’ll see.

    There used to be a tree nextdoor that I’m guessing had a nest, because I would often see them fly over to our vines. Used to see one perching in our forsythia sometimes too. Before that, it had never occurred to me that sometimes they too just “sits and thinks”.

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  9. I thought this was an article about the Hummer vehicles.

    (https://music.minnesota.publicradio.org/programs/morningshow/features/daleconnellyreporting/scripts/102299_sherpa.html)

    I haven’t gotten my Hummingbird feeders out yet. Saw one buzzing around some colored glass beads the other day. And heard some Orioles. The buzz they make if they swoop around you always freaks me out. I’m imagining it must be a big bee, but nope, just a hummingbird.
    I fill bird feeders in the winter, but I often forget in the summer, then I just let it go.

    Never seen the moth.

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  10. Despite three feeders, I don’t see too many hummingbirds in my backyard. I am assuming that’s because the majority of the time I spend in the yard is usually in the middle of the day and I know that hummingbirds prefer the morning and dusk when it’s a little cooler, but I do see them occasionally. I have a small assortment of the kinds of birds you’d see in the middle of the city. I’m sitting out in the yard right now finishing my lunch and my pretty blue jay has shown up and my cardinal pair was here a little bit ago. The female is drop dead gorgeous. A couple of sparrows and my little woodpecker just flew in. Haven’t seen a goldfinch this year.

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  11. I do have a shallow water dish with small stones in it, for the bees and butterflies – read about on FB? The stones proved a spot to rest for creatures that would otherwise drown in, say, a birdbath. I have yet to see anything using it when I’m out there…

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  12. The owners of the house next to my apartment building had multiple hummingbird feeders. I often teased them that I would steal their birds but never attempted to do so.
    That couple sold and moved.
    The new owners have little interest in birds. Their hummingbird feeders are empty. The suet feeders haven’t been used even though I offered and supplied cakes this last winter.
    I’ll just content myself with MY birds.
    And just minutes ago I’ve got a squirrel for the first time in years.

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  15. What a lovely little slice of nature and memory. The way you describe the hummingbirds tiny emerald visitors pausing in your yard feels almost like they’re briefly stitching different places of your life together. There’s something magical about even a single feeder drawing them in, like opening a small doorway into another world. And yes, those hummingbird moths are famously convincing little tricksters 😊

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